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Knitting Friday - The Saga of Super-wash Wool
I always feel the guilt when I miss a day of posting as I did this Wednesday. I know I should just look at some blogs which have been dormant for months, even years, but I still feel guilty.
My sleeveless yellow top of KAL fame is now frogged and reborn as a winter, openwork, lace, crocheted, very large scarf. (Picture was in last Friday.) I decided not to block it since DH says it has a three dimensional look this way and with shawl pins almost all large scarves "pop."
A very good knitting website to check out is the one from Knitting Daily at http://www.knittingdaily.com
It's an easy registration to join, just e-mail and a password, and be sure to download their 40 Favorite Tips & Techniques for Knitters of All Levels eBook. They really mean all levels. I I consider myself an experienced knitters but I'm gaining some new insights from every tips.
I like Knitting Daily and it's one of the two knitting apps on my iPad (the other is Lion Brand.) I go to Lion Brand for patterns and stitches but I like to read the postings on KD.
And now, on to super-wash wool. There's an old story about the Japanese soldier hiding in a cave after WWII and not knowing that the war had ended for years. Well, I know the feeling; it's the way I feel about super-wash wool. Like I know it existed and I know you can wash it in a machine without having it felt (you can even use warm water.) But in my ignorance, I didn't know that you couldn't splice the ends together. I should have known that since splicing really is micro felting, but I was a dummy.
That is, I was a dummy until last week when I decided to start a sweater using Knit Picks Swirl DK and reached the point when skein A had to be joined to skein B. Well, it's not quite true that super wash doesn't splice. I got the ends to join but the look is horrible. You could use the join in a bobble in the trinity stitch but it looks lousy in a straight stockinette stitch. Tail between my legs, I posted my problem on Ravelry and immediately got responses: No, dummy (they really didn't say that), you can't splice super-wash. One Raveler suggested a braided join which I googled and then worked up. It does produce a good strong join (and it's fun to practice summer camp braiding) but I still wouldn't use it in a flat stitch pattern.
But from my research on super-wash wool it looks like they chemically coat the wool to prevent felting and therefore also splicing. So my little mind thinks: What if I were to boil some water and dip the ends of the yarn in it. Could I dissolve the chemical treatment?
And that's where I'd headed right now. To the kitchen to microwave a cup of water to boiling and then dip in two ends of the super-wash wool.
Let me leave you with this knitting cliffhanger: Will she be successful or will she sink deeper into knitting depression? The answer next Friday.
Happy Knitting!
My sleeveless yellow top of KAL fame is now frogged and reborn as a winter, openwork, lace, crocheted, very large scarf. (Picture was in last Friday.) I decided not to block it since DH says it has a three dimensional look this way and with shawl pins almost all large scarves "pop."
A very good knitting website to check out is the one from Knitting Daily at http://www.knittingdaily.com
It's an easy registration to join, just e-mail and a password, and be sure to download their 40 Favorite Tips & Techniques for Knitters of All Levels eBook. They really mean all levels. I I consider myself an experienced knitters but I'm gaining some new insights from every tips.
I like Knitting Daily and it's one of the two knitting apps on my iPad (the other is Lion Brand.) I go to Lion Brand for patterns and stitches but I like to read the postings on KD.
And now, on to super-wash wool. There's an old story about the Japanese soldier hiding in a cave after WWII and not knowing that the war had ended for years. Well, I know the feeling; it's the way I feel about super-wash wool. Like I know it existed and I know you can wash it in a machine without having it felt (you can even use warm water.) But in my ignorance, I didn't know that you couldn't splice the ends together. I should have known that since splicing really is micro felting, but I was a dummy.
That is, I was a dummy until last week when I decided to start a sweater using Knit Picks Swirl DK and reached the point when skein A had to be joined to skein B. Well, it's not quite true that super wash doesn't splice. I got the ends to join but the look is horrible. You could use the join in a bobble in the trinity stitch but it looks lousy in a straight stockinette stitch. Tail between my legs, I posted my problem on Ravelry and immediately got responses: No, dummy (they really didn't say that), you can't splice super-wash. One Raveler suggested a braided join which I googled and then worked up. It does produce a good strong join (and it's fun to practice summer camp braiding) but I still wouldn't use it in a flat stitch pattern.
But from my research on super-wash wool it looks like they chemically coat the wool to prevent felting and therefore also splicing. So my little mind thinks: What if I were to boil some water and dip the ends of the yarn in it. Could I dissolve the chemical treatment?
And that's where I'd headed right now. To the kitchen to microwave a cup of water to boiling and then dip in two ends of the super-wash wool.
Let me leave you with this knitting cliffhanger: Will she be successful or will she sink deeper into knitting depression? The answer next Friday.
Happy Knitting!
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